Three Stooges

The Stooges are an American rock band that was first active from about 1967 to 1974, and then reformed in 2003. more...

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The Stooges sold rather few records in their original existence and often performed for indifferent or hostile audiences. Nevertheless, The Stooges are often regarded as hugely influential both on the then-nascent heavy metal, and on punk rock (see protopunk). Singer Iggy Pop and his wild onstage antics were often the focus of attention.

History

Formation

Iggy Pop (born James Newell Osterberg) played in several Ann Arbor, Michigan-area bands as a teenager, including The Prime Movers and The Iguanas. Osterberg was first inspired to form The Stooges after meeting legendary bluesman Sam Lay during a visit to Chicago. He returned to Detroit with the idea that simply copying black men's blues wasn't enough - he had to create a whole new form of blues music. Ron (guitar) and Scott Asheton (drums), two brothers, along with their friend Dave Alexander (bass guitar) rounded out the rest of the band, with Osterberg taking vocal duties. Shortly after witnessing a Doors concert in Ann Arbor, Osterberg began using the stage name Iggy Pop, a name that he has used ever since. The band's debut was at a Halloween concert at the University of Michigan in 1967. During this early period, The Stooges were originally billed at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan and other venues as the "Psychedelic Stooges", where they played with the MC5 and others.

Trouble achieving success

The Stooges soon gained a reputation for their wild, primitive live performances. Iggy, especially, won fame for acting crazy onstage--smearing his naked chest with hamburger meat and peanut butter, and cutting himself with shards of glass. At one concert, he played a vacuum cleaner like a musical instrument. Iggy is also sometimes credited with the invention or popularization of stage diving.

In 1968, The Stooges were signed by Elektra Records, who had sent a scout named Danny Fields to see the MC5. He wound up signing both acts. (Fields would later go on to discover and manage The Ramones.)

1969 saw the release of their self-titled debut album The Stooges, but it did not sell very well, nor was it well received by critics at the time. Legend has it that half of the album was written the night before the first session, which was produced by former Velvet Underground member John Cale. A second album, Fun House, followed in 1970. Many consider Fun House to be the best representation of The Stooges, as the main goal of the album was to capture the manic energy of their live performances. On June 13 of that year, television captured footage of the band at the Cincinnati Pop Festival. While performing the songs TV Eye and 1970, Iggy leapt into the crowd, where he was hoisted up on people's hands, and proceeded to smear peanut butter all over his chest. It has since become an iconic rock image.

Read more at Wikipedia.org